Vaccines & Law

Modern vaccines are one of the greatest medical achievements of our times: they save tens of thousands of lives per birth cohort, prevent millions of cases of disease each year and save billions of dollars in cost. While nothing is risk free, the risks of modern vaccines are very small. Increasing vaccination rates is an important public health goal, and protects all members of society.

Dorit Rubinstein Reiss (LLB, PhD), UC Hastings professor, examines law and policy issues related to vaccines. Projects include examining the constitutional framework governing vaccine mandates for children and healthcare workers, examining incentives and legal remedies that can help combat non-vaccination, and working on various legal questions of interest to immunization advocates.